Will election end fake @MayorEmanuel Twitter account? He hints end is near

Faux Twitter sensation @MayorEmanuel ended with a cliffhanger scene Sunday night that seemed to indicate he was signing off — for good. He returned this morning, demanding coffee, but followers wonder if last night's saga foreshadows an end to the account.

@MayorEmanuel has more than 31,000 followers, many more than the actual candidates. Watchers have wondered if the parody would last past the election.

The poster posing as the alter ego of mayoral candidate Rahm Emanuel was in rare form over the holiday leading up to Election Day.

Mr. Emanuel's brother, Ari, had arrived in Chicago, prompting tension (fists are thrown) with David Axelrod — again, remember this is a fictionalized story of real people told in 140-character increments on Twitter.

Then, @MayorEmanuel is kidnapped by faux Mayor Richard M. Daley, who takes him to City Hall and reveals the secrets on the Fifth Floor — including that the two identities of Rahm Emanuel can't go on and one of them "won't survive this election."

@MayorEmanuel ends the "scene" saying, "And, before I can try to figure out what the f--- Daley's on about, the bag is back on my head, and everything goes black."

The alter ego, who has denied interviews and remained anonymous, is not above surprises: He has returned to tweet after other recent storylines in which he seemed endangered. But the Daley/Election Eve ritual seemed to have special resonance to it, and when his posts stopped for the evening last night, some of his Twitter followers took note.

"Oh sh--, @MayorEmanuel is going to sacrifice himself for @RahmEmanuel," @TCMcG, of the Chicago photography studio, said of the real Rahm Emanuel Twitter account.

Rebecca Sherman, a literary agent in New York, wrote: "The @mayoremanuel thread took it to a whole other level tonight," and added "psst. call me."